Fashion Week
What is Fashion Week? A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, that allows fashion designers or "houses" to display their latest collections. Fashion Shows are typically the highlight of fashion week. The most prominent fashion weeks are held in the fashion capitals like Milan, Paris, London and New York."Big 4 Fashion Weeks Get Company." International Herald Tribune (Oct. 3, 2006). In the early and mid 2000s, fashion weeks sprang up around the globe to draw attention to designers elsewhere. Characteristics In the major fashion capitals, fashion weeks are semiannual events. "Autumn/(Fall)" fashion weeks, showcasing designers' fall collections, are held January through March, and "spring" fashion weeks, showcasing spring collections, are held September through November. Fashion weeks must be held several months in advance of the season to allow the press and buyers a chance to preview fashion designs for the following season. This is also to allow time for retailers to arrange to purchase or incorporate the designers into their retail marketing. Fashion weeks are attended by buyers for major stores, editors of fashion magazines, the media, celebrities, and members of the entertainment industry. In years past, fashion weeks were predominantly for "the trade only"; however, today they are entertainment and media events. They may incorporate live musicians, celebrity guests, lavish galas and charity events, and a few allow the public to purchase special passes to see the runway shows or attend expositions which display handbags, jewelery, shoes, hats and cosmetics. Many important fashion design schools participate in the shows, as well. Some fashion weeks can be genre-specific, such as a Miami Fashion Week (Swimwear), Prêt-a-Porter (ready-to-wear) Fashion Week, Couture (one-of-a-kind designer original) Fashion Week and Bridal Fashion Week, while Portland (Oregon, USA) Fashion Week has taken on a green hue to become the world's first sustainably produced fashion week showing eco-friendly designers from around the globe. History The earliest fashion week, held in New York City in 1943, was designed to attract attention away from French fashion during World War II, when fashion industry insiders were unable to travel to Paris to see French fashion shows. Fashion publicist Eleanor Lamber organized an event she called "Press Week" to showcase American designers for fashion journalists, who had previously neglected their innovations. (Buyers were not admitted to the shows and instead had to visit designers' showrooms.) Press Week was a success, and fashion magazines like Vogue, which were normally filled with French designs, increasingly featured American fashion, However after the war, people returned to Paris, and to other fashion "superpowers" London and Milan, for the new fashion weeks that had emerged, at this point in time, these four cites and even to the present day, control the fashion calendar, which in the aspects of the buying side, and journalistic side, is good, as it means less travel and the ease of simply jetting from New York, to the next in line London, then to Milan and lastly Paris in the space of one month, for buyers abroad, Cities with fashion weeks The following list includes fashion weeks that are internationally or nationally notable. Glasgow Fashion Week- Glasgow Scotland New Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow Fashion Week references See also * Fashion design * Haute couture * Ready-to-wear Category:Fashion week Category:Fashion Week Category:Week